Microsoft playing with the idea of trading in digital games for store credit

Would you trade in for 10% credit?

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For all the convenience of being able to buy any game you want and download it directly to your console, there aren't a lot of options for you once you've finished the game.

That could possibly change for Xbox One users though, with a survey appearing on Reddit over the weekend indicating that Microsoft is looking at the possibility of letting users trade in their digital games for store credit.

The exchange rate appears to be a slightly less than what you would get for trading in a physical copy, with Microsoft suggesting that a 10% store credit would be on offer.

Trading places

If you cast your minds back to Microsoft's original Xbox One reveal, there was a lot of criticism and confusion around the company's strategy to limit physically traded-in games.

But given the backflips performed since then, it's not surprising that Microsoft is beginning to explore the possibilities of trading digital copies.

While there's no physical product, there's still a software license, and if Microsoft could buy it back cheaply and then resell it at full price, there's a real opportunity for the gaming company to make a decent profit.

At this stage, it's not certain if the situation will ever proceed past the question-on-a-survey stage, but if it does it could create a significant change in the marketplace.